Lucan de Bello Ciuili, Book 10

Edited with Introduction, Text, Translation and Commentary
Erscheinungsjahr 2027
ISBN: 978-0-19-289452-6
Verlag: Oxford University Press

Buch, Englisch, 208 Seiten, Print PDF, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm

This is the first full-scale English edition of the final surviving book of Lucan's De Bello Ciuili to be published. Book 10 recounts Julius Caesar's stay in Alexandria in Egypt from October 48 to January 47 BCE. It narrates Caesar's visit to the tomb of Alexander the Great, his love affair with Cleopatra and his stay at the decadent court of Ptolemy XIII. This book includes a magnificent speech on the origin of the Nile flood and shows Caesar under attack and fighting desperately for his own survival. Book 10 is remarkable for its characterization of Caesar, who is often shown as unswervingly dynamic, destructive and victorious through the poem; here we see a more complex portrait of the hero, indulging in intellectual interests, marvelling at the luxurious spectacle of the court, vulnerable to attack and often reactive rather than pre-emptive. This edition includes a full introduction which discusses the most important aspects and contexts of book 10 and its place within the poem. It introduces the reader to the influence of Lucan's sources and models; the relevant generic contexts of epic poetry; philosophy, religion and human psychology; it includes a detailed analysis of Lucan's poetic style and introduces the reader to the transmission of the text. The commentary introduces each section of the narrative and provides a full bibliography of modern discussions; it discusses each significant sentence, line, phrase and word; it draws attention to the most important aspects of the text and their contribution to the meaning of the poem. The commentary discusses the most important textual problems in book 10 and prints a composite Latin text, based upon a re-evaluation of all textual options; the text is accompanied by a faithful English prose translation.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Roche, Paul

Inhaltsverzeichnis

- PREFACE

- INTRODUCTION

- 1.: Book 10

- 2: Sources and Poetic Models

- 3: Caesar in Book 10

- 4: Siege and Urban Warfare

- 5: Philosophy and Religion

- 6: The End of the Poem

- 7: Emotions and Psychologies

- 8: Style

- 9: Diction

- 10: Word order and arrangement

- 11: Metre

- 12: Text

- PRINCIPAL MANUSCRIPTS

- M. ANNAEI LVCANI DE BELLO CIUILI LIBER DECIMVS

- COMMENTARY

- INDICES

- 1. General index

- 2. Latin words

Über Autor(innen)

Paul Roche is Professor of Latin at the University of Sydney. This his third full-scale commentary on a book of Lucan's epic poem, Ciuil War (De Bello Ciuili) (book 1: 2009; book 7: 2019); he is also the editor of Reading Lucan's Civil War: A Critical Guide (2021). He has published widely on Latin literature from the late republic to late antiquity.